The present disclosure relates to an earth leakage circuit breaker and an image forming apparatus and, more particularly, to technology for reducing power consumption of an earth leakage circuit breaker.
Electronics such as an image forming apparatus are generally provided with an earth leakage circuit breaker. Even when the electronics are in a standby state, the earth leakage circuit breaker such as an earth leakage breaker always operates to consume power. Accordingly, as the power consumption of the earth leakage circuit breaker is reduced, the power consumption of the electronics can be reduced.
For example, a power unit for preventing earth leakage is proposed in which both an earth leakage detector detecting earth leakage based on a secondary current of a zero-phase converter and an abnormality detector are installed on a power circuit, and when abnormal earth leakage is detected, supply of alternating current (AC) power to the power circuit is stopped, and supply of power to the earth leakage detector and the abnormality detector is also stopped, thereby reducing power consumption.